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County Employment and Wages in New Mexico – Fourth Quarter 2013

New Mexico’s only large county, Bernalillo, reported an employment increase of 0.9 percent from December 2012 to December 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. (See table 1. Large counties are those with 2012 annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the rate of employment growth in Bernalillo County was below the national average.

Nationally, employment advanced 1.8 percent from December 2012 to December 2013 as 292 of the 334 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Weld, Colo., recorded the highest percentage increase in the country, up 6.0 percent over the year. St. Clair, Ill., registered the largest percentage employment decline among large counties, down 3.1 percent.

Employment in Bernalillo County stood at 314,800 in December 2013, accounting for 39.5 percent of total employment in New Mexico. Nationwide, the largest 334 counties made up 71.7 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 136.1 million in December 2013, up 2.3 million from December 2012. These large counties had a net gain of 1.8 million jobs over the year, accounting for 76.2 percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.

The average weekly wage in Bernalillo County declined only 0.1 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the fourth quarter of 2013. Bernalillo’s percentage change ranked it 195th among the largest U.S. counties. (See table 1.) The national average weekly wage was unchanged from a year ago, although 185 of the 334 largest counties registered increases over the year. Santa Cruz, Calif., had the largest wage gain, up 6.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012. Ada, Idaho, was second with a wage increase of 6.4 percent, followed by the counties of Washington, Ore. (5.9 percent) and Union, N.J. (5.2 percent).

Among the large U.S. counties, 140 experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Douglas, Colo., experienced the largest percentage decline in average weekly wages with a loss of 29.7 percent over the year. San Mateo, Calif., had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages, down 15.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012, followed by Virginia Beach City, Va. (-10.0 percent), McHenry, Ill. (-8.8 percent), and Shawnee, Kan. (-5.1 percent).

The average weekly wage in Bernalillo County stood at $836 in the fourth quarter of 2013, placing it 245th in the national ranking for wage levels. Seventy percent of the largest U.S. counties (235) reported weekly wages below the national average of $1,000. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($587), followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($598) and Hidalgo ($620).

Nationally, 98 large counties registered average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the fourth quarter of 2013. San Mateo, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $2,724. New York, N.Y., was second at $2,041, followed by Santa Clara, Calif., at $1,972. Average wages in the highest-ranked county, San Mateo, Calif., were more than four times the average wage in the lowest-ranked county, Horry, S.C. ($587).

Average weekly wages in New Mexico’s smaller counties

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 32 counties in New Mexico with employment levels below 75,000. Three of these smaller counties had average weekly wages above the $1,000 national average in the fourth quarter of 2013: Los Alamos, $1,539; Lea, $1,023; and Eddy, $1,001. Two small counties, Santa Fe ($947) and San Juan ($873), registered average pay levels above the single large county, Bernalillo ($836). The lowest average weekly wages in New Mexico were reported in Catron and Guadalupe, at $512 and $518, respectively. (See table 2.)

When all 33 counties in New Mexico were considered, 10 had weekly wages averaging $599 or less. Twelve counties averaged from $600 to $699 per week, 5 reported wages from $700 to $799, 2 from $800 to $899, and 4 had wages exceeding $900. (See chart 1.) The counties with the highest average wages were concentrated around the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Farmington, Hobbs, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe.

Additional statistics and other Information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2012 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2013 version of the news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn12.htm. The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2014.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Technical Note

Average weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.3 million employer reports covered 136.1 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels of those covered by UI programs. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter. It is to be noted, therefore, that over-the-year wage changes for geographic areas may reflect shifts in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and such other factors as hours of work. Thus, wages may vary among counties, metropolitan areas, or states for reasons other than changes in the average wage level. Data for all states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised (see Technical Note below) and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons—some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes.

The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the individual states as well as from the data presented on the BLS Web site. These potential differences result from the states’ continuing receipt, review and editing of UI data over time. On the other hand, differences between data in this release and the data found on the BLS Web site are the result of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Specifically, these adjustments account for administrative (noneconomic) changes such as a correction to a previously reported location or industry classification. Adjusting for these administrative changes allows users to more accurately assess changes of an economic nature (such as a firm moving from one county to another or changing its primary economic activity) over a 12-month period. Currently, adjusted data are available only from BLS press releases.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the largest county in New Mexico, fourth quarter 2013

(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.(2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.